Manners fills stat sheet

The Hawaii strong safety was in on seven tackles and an interception, forced two fumbles and broke up three passes against Boise State

After playing one of the best games of his career, Lono Manners found it difficult to talk about his personal performance after last night's 44-41 loss to Boise State.

The Hawaii strong safety finished with seven tackles, forced two fumbles, broke up three passes and intercepted another against the three-time defending Western Athletic Conference champions at Aloha Stadium.

But the stats did little to ease the pain of the Warriors' fifth straight defeat to Boise State.

"Every loss hurts," Manners said. "We played good as a defense; we just came up short."

Manners had a hand in two Boise State turnovers in the first half to help UH take a 20-7 lead into halftime.

He made a leaping interception in front of Broncos tight end Derek Schouman deep in UH territory to thwart a BSU scoring opportunity.

After an interception gave Boise State the ball back at the UH 24, Manners again stifled the threat when he hammered running back Ian Johnson, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Melila Purcell.

He also broke up a pass in the end zone in the third quarter, swatting the ball away from Jason Murray.

"He plays like that every game, practices like that every day," UH defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said. "He's just a football player."

But Manners' influence extended beyond the stat sheet. He made several big hits, making receivers think twice about stretching out for throws over the middle.

"Thats our defense: run to the ball, go as hard as you can, play 110 percent," Manners said.

"I don't remember a time when Lono didn't play good," UH linebacker Tanuvasa Moe said. "I know every game that Lono comes to play, he's going to bring the helmet and he's going to do his job."

Moe said he noticed the influence of UH's hitting on the BSU receivers.

"After the last game there were a couple big hits and they watch video too and they saw if you come across the middle you know you're going to get hit," Moe said.

UH handcuffed the Broncos in the first half, and sacked BSU quarterback Jared Zabransky five times in the game. But Zabransky found ways to make enough plays in the second half to send UH to perhaps its most frustrating loss in the series with the Broncos.

"He's tough," Manners said. "We put a lot of pressure on him, and we got a lot of sacks, but he stands out there and he makes plays."